Entrepreneurs are 50 percent more likely to report having a mental health issue, so the state of your general well-being should also make it to your main KPIs.
When launching a business, everything is a priority. Do you focus on fundraising, acquiring new clients, or improving your product? The “everything is a priority” syndrome doesn’t go away as our startups scale. Naturally, our friendships, family and, most importantly, self-care are immediately de-prioritized or even forgotten. As a founder of a wellness coaching platform fighting burnout, self-care made it to my top 5 daily goals.
Self care is about avoiding any habits that make you feel unsatisfied, and making time for what makes you feel joy or give you a sense of accomplishment. It’s different for every person, but here are a few ideas of how 6 new female entrepreneurs practice self-care (for real).
Anna Ratala – Founder of Zvook.co
Anna’s mantra is to do things that feel good, which sometimes means not following every “wellness rule” strictly. If she’s enjoying dinner with a friend during the week, then she goes for it even if it means fewer hours of sleep. Keeping close relationships and a positive support system is proven to contribute to our general well-being.
Sarina Richard – Founder of Askdeedee.co
Sarina likes taking time for herself to unwind before and after a hectic day (so basically every day). She meditates every morning, takes a short break during the day to eat a healthy meal, practices yoga once a week, and puts on Calm before going to sleep. She’s chosen a few rituals that help her maintain a sense of balance and internal peace.
Maya Escobar – Founder of Casablue.co and mom of 2
When Maya doesn’t go for a daily run she feels like her day is starting off with the wrong foot. When she is alone with her kids, she still goes for her run with a double stroller. Making art is her second priority and she feels fulfilled when she can leverage it to support a social cause. For people like Maya, sense of purpose is the catalyst of self care.
Laura Francois – Founder of Impactory.io
I’ve never met someone that commits to so many projects at the same time and still over delivers on every single one of them. Ironically, self-care for her means being able to focus on other activities that aren’t just about entrepreneurship. Right now she tries to read fiction books or novels. Putting into perspective that there’s more to life than our own entrepreneurship journey helps with self-care tremendously.
Lamia Pardo – Founder of Journify.co
And, for me, self-care is defined by living in the present and not worrying about the future which is unpredictable anyway, and having a glass of wine with a good friend a few times per week. It’s important that some of those nights are with my entrepreneur friends so we can share insights and some with my other good friends that cannot even relate to this journey so I can really take a break.
Burnout is real. Just in May of this year it was declared a legitimate diagnosis by the World’s Health Organization. If we [entrepreneurs] are twice as likely to suffer from it, then we need to prevent it from day 1 in our own way.